Investigation Results/Statistics for 2013

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The mission of the Board is to protect the public and ensure the dependability and accessibility of financial information. In order to fulfill this mission, the Board investigates CPAs, CPA - Inactive certificate holders, CPA firms and unlicensed persons representing themselves as CPAs; who may have violated the Public Accountancy Act (RCW 18.04) and the associated rules (WAC 4-30). Complaints can originate from clients, other CPAs, federal or state regulators, or identified through agency oversight and review programs. Complaints result from allegations of technical errors, or ethical or legal violations. Board staff report on the results of investigations on a quarterly basis. These are the statistics for 2013:

Complaint Status Report as of:

03/31/13

06/30/13

09/30/13

12/31/13

Intake

Complaints Received

32

30

20

27

Complaints Dismissed

(4)

(18)

(25)

(20)

Transferred to Investigative Monitoring

(0)

(0)

(8)

(0)

Moved to Investigation

(22)

(10)

(7)

(3)

Total Complaints Under evaluation

38

40

20

24

Investigation - Developing and Developed Cases

Cases in Development

26

19

14

14

Cases Awaiting Action

0

5

4

2

Developed Cases Moved Forward

9

14

17

13

﻿﻿Total Developing and Developed Cases

35

38

35

29

Total Complaints under Evaluation/
Development

73

78

55

53

Aging of All Developing and Developed Cases

>4 years

3

3

3

3

>3 years, < or = 4 years

1

1

1

0

>2 years, < or = 3 years

1

2

5

6

>1 year, < or = 2 years

6

7

6

6

< 1 year, > 180 days

4

8

11

11

< or = 180 days

20

17

9

3

Total

35

38

35

29

Classification of All Developing and Developed Cases

Public Harm

Negligent Performance of Attest

6

2

2

2

Negligence, Incompetence, Disregard

18

26

24

18

Use of Restricted Titles

5

3

1

2

Borrowing, Theft, Embezzlement, Breach of Fiduciary Duty

3

3

3

2

Breach of Confidentiality

0

0

0

0

Records Retention Causing Harm

2

4

4

4

Administrative

QAR

0

0

0

0

CPE under 16 hours

0

0

0

0

CPE over 16 hours

0

0

0

0

Good Character Evaluation

1

0

1

1

Total

35

38

35

29

Investigations Closed - Disposition By

Board Order/Agreed Order

Revocation - Public Harm

0

0

1

0

Suspension - Public Harm

2

0

0

0

Suspension - Other

1

0

0

0

Practice restriction - Public Harm

0

0

0

0

SAO-Fine/costs/other sanctions - Public Harm

1

0

3

5

SAO-Fine/costs/other sanctions

3

0

1

0

Subtotal

7

0

5

5

Administrative Sanctions

0

0

0

1

Reinstatements

1

0

0

0

Dismissals - Public Harm

3

5

7

3

Dismissals

3

2

0

0

Subtotal

7

7

7

4

Total

14

7

12

9

Average number of days to complete investigation(Cases closed since 12/31/2012)